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The U.S. dollar sunk lower against major currencies on Thursday, as uncertainty surrounding the progress of US. tax reform and public spending continues to mount while weaker-than-expected jobless claims data weighed on the greenback.

The dollar made a rocky start to the session plagued by Wednesday’s Fed minutes, which revealed a reluctance among some Fed members’ to support a raise interest rates, as they await further details on President Trump’s economic plans in order to assess how Trump’s policies would impact economic growth.

The latest U.S. labour market data, added to the greenback’s woes, after the U.S. Department of Labor said initial jobless claims increased by 6,000 to 244,000 in the week ending February 18 from the previous week’s revised total of 238,000 compared to analysts’ estimates of a rise by 2,000 to 241,000 last week.

sterling hit a 1 week-high against the dollar, buoyed by a modest recovery in UK retail sales in February relative to a steeper fall in retail sales in January, according to the latest Confederation of British Industry’s quarterly Distributive Trades Survey.

Sterling fell Monday on reports of a possible push for fresh Scottish independence vote.The Times reported U.K. PM Theresa May's government is bracing for a new move for a vote on Scottish independence.The pound was off 0.39% at $1.2413. It eased 0.59% to €1.1733. Scotland rejected independence in a referendum held in September 2014.The push for a fresh Scottish plebiscite could be sparked by May's government invoking Article 50 to exit the EU.Scotland voted to remain in the EU in the Brexit referendum held in June of last year.

The pound dropped to fresh six-week lows against the U.S. dollar on Friday, after the release of downbeat U.K. service sector data and as expectations for a March rate hike in the U.S. continued to support demand for the greenback.

GBP/USD hit 1.2227 during European morning trade, the pair’s lowest since January 17; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.2235, shedding 0.26%.Cable was likely to find support at 1.2148, the low of January 12 and resistance at 1.2308, Thursday’s high.

Research group Market said its U.K. services purchasing managers’ index dropped to a five-month low of 53.3 last month from 54.5 in January. Analysts had expected the index to fall to 54.1 in February.Sterling was also lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP advancing 0.41% to 0.8603.

The pound rose to three-week highs against the dollar on Tuesday after data showing that the annual rate of inflation in the UK rose to the highest since September 2013 in February. GBP/USD was up 0.8% to 1.2458 by 09.50 GMT, from around 1.2411 ahead of the release of the data. Consumer prices jumped 2.3% on a year-over-year basis, up sharply from 1.8% in January, the Office for National Statistics said. Economists had expected a 2.1% increase.

Transport costs, which were pushed up by rising fuel costs, were the main drivers of inflation the ONS said. Food prices rose in annual terms for the first time in more than two-and-a-half years.Excluding food and fuel prices, core consumer price inflation rose to 2.0%, above economists' expectations of a 1.8% rise. The steep drop in sterling since the June Brexit vote has pushed up the cost of imported goods and combined with a recovery in global oil prices has pushed prices higher in recent months. Economists fear that rising inflation at a time when wage growth is slowing will erode consumer spending, the main driver of growth in the UK economy. The Bank of England has said it expects inflation will peak at 2.8% in the second quarter of next year but many economists say it is likely to hit 3%.

The pound edged into negative territory in Asia briefly on Thursday as markets noted the U.K. faces a hard road to keep business links in place in negotiations to exit from the European Union that were formally initiated overnight.

GBP/USD dipped to 1.2437, just into negative territory, retracing earlier gains as the EUR/USD came under further selling, down 0.17% to 1.0747.

"The weakness in sterling was directly related to all the uncertainty and questions that we know have, after the U.K. began these proceedings. There's a lot more questions than answers, I do believe that we could see further sterling weakness," Kathy Lien, managing director at BK Asset Management said in a note to clients.

AUD/USD traded up 0.14% to 0.7659 after HIA new home sales rose 0.2% month-on-month in February, compared to a 2.2% decline the previous month. USD/JPY changed hands at 111.33, up 0.25%.

Overnight, the dollar rose against a basket of major currencies on Wednesday, buoyed by better than expected U.S. home sales data while a slump in both the euro and pound underpinned upside momentum in the greenback.

Meanwhile, several comments from Federal Reserve officials helped shift investors’ focus to the prospect of additional rate hikes this year, after Fed member Charles Evans said he has confidence that two total rate increases in 2017 seems “very safe”.

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren took a somewhat bullish outlook on possible rate hikes, after he said the U.S. central bank should be prepared to raise interest rates a total of four times in 2017 to prevent the U.S. economy from overheating.

The pound sagged against the yen after a blast at a concert in Britain's city of Manchester killed at least 19 people. Sterling shed 0.45 percent to 144.07 yen (GBPJPY=), but otherwise the currency was fairly steady against its major rivals. It was little changed against the dollar at $1.2994 . On Monday, the pound had lost about 0.3 percent after polls showed a narrowing lead for Prime Minister Theresa May over her opposition ahead of elections next month. Police said they were responding to reports of an explosion at a concert in the English city of Manchester where U.S. singer Ariana Grande had been performing. At least 19 people dead and about 50 injured in what British police said was being treated as a terrorist incident. The dollar was down 0.2 percent at 111.055 yen after a dip to 110.860 and the euro slid 0.2 percent to 124.830 yen (EURJPY=).

1.386 is a good buy opportunity since it’s a bullish trend (based on the higher time frames)! I am just going to open a buy trade here with only 42 pips SL; in this case my TP would be 1.4255! On the other hand, if market breaks 1.3482 then I’ll go for sell.